


Beautiful

by Morpheus626



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25057147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morpheus626/pseuds/Morpheus626
Summary: A request from @persipneiwrites on Tumblr: "Sledgefu - B29!!"B29 being the prompt: “You’re so beautiful”
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Beautiful

Most people presumed their most used words were ‘fuck’ or just an exasperated sigh. To be fair, out of the house that wasn’t entirely false. 

But Snafu wished they could see how it was at home, away from work and school and the need to be so careful around people that might not accept them. There, one of the most used phrases (aside from ‘I love you’) was ‘you’re so beautiful’. 

“You are, y’know that?” Snafu murmured, looking up at Eugene to relish the sight of him blushing. 

They were spending that particular afternoon on a blanket on the backyard lawn, in theory so that Eugene could study in the fresh air. However, it had rapidly evolved into just cuddling and sunbathing, the textbooks returned back to the bookshelf in the sitting room. 

Snafu had taken up his usual residence in Eugene’s lap, stretched out with his head against Eugene’s thighs, knowing that to lay elsewhere would risk his hair not being played with. And on such a perfectly comfortable day, he couldn’t risk that. 

“Do you ever get sick of tellin’ me that?” Eugene laughed, his cheeks flushed pink. 

“Never. Besides, you might forget if I don’t remind you. You get all caught up in your head, busy worryin’ about school and all sorts of other shit, and you forget that you’re gorgeous, and the best thing to happen to me,” Snafu replied. 

“I’m the best thing?” Eugene’s fingers stilled where they’d been playing in his curls, and Snafu could feel Eugene holding his breath. 

“Yeah,” Snafu continued, reaching a hand back and up to gently pull Eugene’s from his hair so he could hold it. “Y’know, after our first few weeks together, all I could think was ‘where was this beautiful asshole during Guadalcanal?’ Would have made that a hell of a lot easier to bear if I’d had you with me then.” 

“I wanted to be. I mean, I wanted to enlist earlier than I did, but my dad-”

“I know,” Snafu interrupted, rubbing a thumb against Eugene’s hand as he felt Eugene’s fingers start to twitch at the mention of the heart murmur and his father’s protestations to his enlisting. Someday, they’d both have to sit down and have a talk about that. Until then, he was happy to soothe him whenever the topic brought itself up. 

“Do you think we would have ended up in the same Company? If I’d come out there earlier?” Eugene asked. 

Snafu shrugged. “Maybe. Don’t know, but I like to think we would have found each other, somehow. Think things would have always brought us together, one way or another. Like we’re meant to be with each other, on and off the battlefield.” 

He blinked as what he thought was a bead of sweat hit him on the face (it was warm, and Eugene had insisted on leaving his sleeves down.) He peered up, and sighed softly. Not sweat. 

He sat up and pulled Eugene close to him. “Hell, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” 

“You’re spoutin’ all this sweet, romantic shit, and you didn’t expect you’d make me cry?” Eugene sniffled, but smiled as he leaned into him, his head resting on Snafu’s shoulder. 

“Gonna make me cry too, you ass,” Snafu murmured, but he already was. It was a difficult balancing act at times. The war had brought them together, but it was a delicate set of memories, a mixture of incredibly bad and terrifying as well as some fond and strangely good. Some days, even talking about the good memories could set it off; this absolute tidal wave of emotions that left him half wanting to carry Eugene to the bedroom to make him smile again and feel loved, and half wanting to just hold him close while they both wept, like maybe this time the tears would somehow sweep out all of the bad memories so they could be left with only the good of what had brought them to each other. 

He went for the latter this time, gently pulling Eugene down with him to lay back on the blanket, holding him tight while the tears rolled. 

“You’re the best thing to happen to me too,” Eugene’s voice was scratchy through the tears. “And you’d better know that you’re beautiful too. I gotta remind you more. You’re so damn beautiful I question every day how the hell I got so lucky to have you.” 

“You got me ‘cause you’re kind, smart as hell, handsome, one of the only Marines I’d trust by me in combat,” Snafu sniffled as he brushed away his tears. “And you got a magnificent ass and cock, but you already knew that.” 

He could feel Eugene’s smile turn into a grin against his skin as he giggled. “Says a lot that you still find this ass attractive after everythin’ that went down overseas. I mean, we were all sick and it was what it was, but no proper hygiene and feelin’ like you’d never feel better or get clean, and you still, somehow-” 

“A man has priorities,” Snafu interrupted. “And a man knows when somethin’ is so perfect, so gorgeous, that you just gotta wait for it. It was worth waitin’ for both of us to be healthy and clean. If I’m honest with you, there were a few times…” 

“You thought you couldn’t wait?” Eugene asked. “But we were disgusting. You were still stunnin’ under all that dirt and muck, mind, but…” 

Snafu smiled. “So were you. It was worth the wait, but it was a hard fuckin’ wait sometimes. More than a few times I had to hold myself back from thinkin’ about what I’d do to you if we’d been able to be alone, no matter how filthy we were.” 

“Nasty,” Eugene laughed, the tears on his face drying and no new ones falling. It was a wonderful sight. 

“Nasty I might be, but so are you,” Snafu murmured, moving to let a hand trail over Eugene’s hip and ass. “You like the thought of it, don’t you? You and me alone in a foxhole, dirty as hell, makin’ each other feel good without any other care in the world?” 

Eugene’s face was blushed red now. “Long as we aren’t under fire in this little fantasy.” 

“’Course not. Just you and me gettin’ to everythin’ we both wanted back then but had to wait to do,” Snafu replied. 

Eugene’s hand settled on his chest, the urge to rip each other’s clothes off and have at it slowed by the warmth of the slowly setting sun. As much as he wanted to drag Eugene up to their bed, it was too much right then. It was easier to stay put, falling asleep, all wrapped up in each other. 

Until Queen and the kids, hungry, appeared screaming at the open back door, impatiently milling about, waiting for them. 

He nearly had to drag Eugene inside, his husband still half-asleep but just awake enough to be led in to the sitting room and dropped on a couch. 

Once the kids were fed and happy, Snafu joined him on the couch. 

Eugene was out like a light again, his face pressed hard against the fabric of the couch, his mouth open just a bit and drooling. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Snafu sighed as he flopped beside him and pulled him close. They could meander upstairs later. For now, it was perfect just to lay there and watch Eugene sleep.


End file.
